Wall Street shakes, flight departments wonder

As Wall Street continues to reel from the events of last month, market turmoil could clip the wings of several major financial institutions’ flight departments.

The flight department of Lehman Brothers, which declared bankruptcy last month, operated a pair of GIVs, a Falcon 50 and an S-76. According to a company official, the firm also had a G550 on order, the disposition of which will be decided by the bankruptcy trustees. Much of the company’s assets were purchased by UK-based Barclays Bank, which operates its own flight department. The possibility exists that the Lehman Brothers aircraft would be sold off as the company is divided. Morgan Stanley owns two GVs, according to FAA records, that are managed by Jet Aviation at Teterboro. Washington Mutual and Wachovia do not operate their own flight departments.

AIG, one of the largest insurance companies in the world, operates in 130 countries and, not surprisingly, has an extensive flight operation that includes a Global Express and Global 5000, two Falcon 2000EX EASys, a Falcon 2000, a Falcon 900EX, a Citation XL, a Sabre 65 and an AW139, based around the U.S. The company also has another pair of Falcon 2000EX EASys on order to replace older aircraft, scheduled for delivery in 2009 and 2010.